The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
by Boo2020
Summary: Christmas prompts written by request and originally posted on Tumblr. Each chapter is a separate one shot. Pairings and prompts in chapter summaries.
1. Hungover After Office Party

A/N: I forgot to post these here until today, and just finished the last one in time for Christmas. Enjoy and happy holidays!

* * *

Pairing: Apollo/Athena  
Prompt: Waking up hungover after an office party and not remembering what happened - Justicykes  
Word Count: 1,799

* * *

When Apollo wakes up, all he knows is that his head is absolutely pounding. He decides not to open his eyes, that will only invite in the morning light and make his headache even worse.

He lays perfectly still—even movement makes the headache worse—at least until he feels someone other than himself moving. Headache aside, he opens his eyes and turns his head only for his eyes to be greeted by a wall of orange.

The person beside him snuffles, burying their face into their pillow more, and he realizes he only knows one person with hair that colour. Athena. Why is he in bed with Athena?!

He manages to keep his cool, and slips out of the bed quietly. He's relieved to see that he's wearing his clothes from the night before, but _not_ so relieved when he sees Athena's clothing on the floor on her side of the bed. From what he can see of her shoulders peeking out of the covers, she's at least wearing her bra still, so he _really_ hopes that's a sign they didn't _do_ anything. Maybe she's just not comfortable sleeping in clothing?

He doesn't recognize the room either. He literally has no idea where he is. He grabs his phone from the bedside table and sees that it still has a 40% charge, so he tip-toes out of the room and heads down a hall.

He eventually starts to recognize his surroundings, and the previous night's activities come back to him partially. The office Christmas party. Seems he got too drunk to go home and Phoenix had let him stay in the spare bedroom at the back. But would he have let drunk Athena go into a room with drunk Apollo, or did she somehow sneak her way into the bed with him? He can't see Phoenix allowing the two of them to sleep in the same bed together…

He taps Phoenix's cell number into his phone, hoping that maybe he'll know what happened.

He answers the phone after a few rings, and Apollo can tell right away that he probably doesn't remember much of last night either.

"Nn, yeah?"

"Uh, Mr. Wright?"

"Yeah. Yes. What is it?"

"It's Apollo."

He can hear Phoenix sigh, and someone in the background, a woman's voice, asking what's wrong.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

"Um, Mr. Wright?"

"Yeah, sorry, Apollo. What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering if you… remembered what happened last night? I woke up in the spare bedroom in the office and well…"

"Athena was with you, wasn't she?"

Apollo blinks. "Wait, how did you know?"

"You were both _really_ drunk last night, Apollo," Phoenix explains. "I couldn't let either of you leave, and especially not Athena since she's not even old enough to drink legally yet. I told you to take the back room. Athena joined you, I guess."

"Mr. Wright," Apollo breathes. "How could you let Athena sleep in the same bed as me?! Her male co-worker?"

"Well, what? You didn't _do_ anything to her, did you? I thought I could trust you of all people not to try anything with her."

Apollo flushes, though no one can see him. "I don't _think_ we did anything, but I can't really remember."

"Are you naked? Do you see any used condoms anywhere? I hope even if you were drunk you'd be smart enough to use protection."

Apollo groans inwardly. Talking to Phoenix about this feels like his dad giving him a sex talk. It's awkward and embarrassing. "I didn't look for anything like _that_ ," he mumbles. "And I was dressed."

" _You_ were dressed?"

"Athena… It looks like she's just in her bra and panties," he whispers hastily into the phone.

Phoenix pauses, and again Apollo can hear a voice in the background.

 _"Nick, I can't sleep with you on the phone."_

"Sorry, sorry."

"Mr. Wright, is Ms. Fey with you?" Apollo asks, grinning despite himself.

"None of your business," Phoenix says.

"Hmph."

"Anyway, Apollo. I'm not sure what you want _me_ to do. Why don't you just go wake up Athena and ask her?"

"I can't do that!" he protests.

"You can't do what?"

Apollo swings around to see Athena standing behind him. It takes all his focus not to stare at her. She's clearly not shy, as she hasn't gotten dressed yet. She's standing before him in a black lacy bra and a thong to match. Not even regular panties, a _thong._ He feels his mouth go dry at the sight of her. She has long athletic legs, a toned stomach, strong looking arms, and those _breasts._ He's never really considered himself a breast man before, but hers are so perfectly round and perky, and big. They're very big. They almost look fake, but he doesn't think someone as young as Athena would have had breast implants. She's simply lucky. Plus, she has her hair down, and he's never noticed before how long and pretty it looks without her ponytail. He has to consciously tear his eyes away from her.

"Hello? Apollo?"

"Er, I gotta go." He hangs up the phone without another word.

Athena smiles at him. "Close your mouth, Apollo."

"O-Oh, uh, sorry. I just… Why aren't you dressed?"

She shrugs. "I'm more comfortable like this. You're not bothered, are you? It's just like I'm wearing a bikini or something."

He swallows. "A very… _skimpy_ bikini…"

"I can go change?"

"No, I'm not bothered," he says, probably a bit too quickly.

She smiles and walks past him, hips swaying. "I need some coffee. I have such a bad hangover. Do you want some?"

"Uh, yes, please."

He goes and sits down on the couch in the main office to wait for his coffee. Aside from being half naked, she's acting pretty much like normal Athena. He can hear her puttering about in the kitchenette, can hear the boiling and dripping of the coffee pot, and then Athena saunters back out, two cups of coffee in her hands.

She hands one to him and takes a seat beside him, tucking one leg underneath of herself. She sips gently at the coffee, and Apollo can't help staring at her. How her lips wrap around the edge of the cup and her fingers delicately around it. She sighs as the warm coffee perks her up a bit, and she turns to him.

"Do you remember anything from last night?"

He looks away, into the darkness of his coffee cup. "Not really... Do you?"

"Mhmmm I remember everything."

"Really? Well, what happened? Why were we sleeping in the same bed?"

She leans forward to set her coffee on the table and sits back again, a smirk playing on her lips. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Apollo groans. "Athena, please. Did we... you know?"

She giggles, and Apollo stiffens when she scoots closer to him, her bare skin coming into contact with his arm. "I'm sort of chilly, Apollo."

"Well, look what you're wearing."

She presses her side against him. "Warm me up."

He swallows and settles his arm around her shoulders, pulling her a little closer to share his warmth. And when he glances down, he realizes he has quite a nice view down her bra. He tears his eyes away, trying to remain a gentleman, and hoping Athena doesn't notice anything different about a particular area of his own body.

"About last night?" he prods. "Why were you half naked in the same bed as me, Athena?"

"You mean you don't remember?" she purrs, looking at him through half lidded eyes.

"I don't."

She puts her hand on his thigh. "How can you not remember?"

He swallows. "Athena…"

She grins then, and a giggle bursts out of her. "Don't worry, we didn't do anything. You were even more drunk than me and you were in bed and passed out _hours_ before I crawled in beside you. I only did because I knew I could trust you not to try anything if you woke up at some point, and I just felt safer sleeping in the same room as you over taking the couch in the wide open office, with those big windows and everything."

He breathes a sigh of relief, and Athena laughs again. "Apollo, you are as red as your suit right now."

He frowns as she sits up and pulls the quilt off the back of the couch to wrap around her shoulders. "Well what do you expect?!" he says. "You're sitting there in a bra and _very_ revealing panties, touching me and stuff. How am I supposed to act? Should I _pretend_ I don't find you attractive when you're flaunting everything like that?"

She raises her eyebrows at his outburst. "I didn't really think about it, to be honest. I'm not that shy when it comes to my body. I work out a lot and shower in front of people all the time, though to be honest they are usually other girls." She shrugs. "I guess I'm just comfortable with you, plus I wanted to tease you a bit. But… You find me attractive, huh?"

"W-Well, yes, of course I do."

"Aw, Apollo. You're not too bad yourself, you know."

"Really?"

She snickers. "Yeah, really."

"Oh… Thanks."

She sighs and stands up, the quilt now covering everything up. "I guess I'll go get dressed now. Don't want you getting too flustered now, do we?"

She walks away, and he stands. "Hey, Athena?"

She turns. "Yeah?"

"What… um, what are you doing for Christmas?"

She smiles. "Not much. I might visit Simon, but aside from that, I'll probably be spending it at home by myself."

He rubs the back of his neck. "Do you maybe want to come to my place that night? We can watch some movies, have some drinks… I mean, if you want to. I do make a pretty mean hot chocolate."

She nods, adjusting the quilt around her shoulders, giving him one more blessed glimpse of those toned legs and a bit of her belly. "I'd like that, Apollo."

"Great! Uh… I'll let you go get changed then."

She turns, the quilt fanning out around her, and heads down the hallway to the bedroom where her clothes have been left. He flops back down onto the couch, a little surprised at himself for actually working up the courage to ask her out, on Christmas Day nonetheless.

He's pleased, and though he always tries to remain gentlemanly, he can't help wondering if perhaps Athena may wear the same skimpy underwear to his apartment that night, and sleep in the same bed with him again… Only this time, he doesn't want to be drunk when it happens.


	2. Christmas 'Carols'

Pairing: Phoenix/Maya  
Prompt: Character A trying to get Character B to sing Christmas carols  
Word Count: 975

* * *

"Hey, Nick?"

Phoenix turns away from his conversation with Larry to look at Maya. She's leaning over in the booth, pressing her shoulder against his to nudge him. "Yeah?"

"We should do karaoke," she suggests, gesturing to the stage where a karaoke machine is sitting. The stage is dressed up for the holiday season, with tinsel and a Christmas tree with some fake presents beneath it. So far tonight there've only been a few people actually get up to sing anything.

He snorts. "I haven't had enough to drink for that, Maya. I'm not sure there's any amount of alcohol that will make me sing in front of anyone."

She pouts. "But you've done it with me before—"

"Ssshhh," he hushes her, sitting forward. Larry raises an eyebrow across the table. Phoenix just smiles at him and leans in to whisper to Maya. "No. That was in the privacy of my apartment. That's one of our relationship _secrets_ , Maya."

She makes a face at him. "What? That you sung—"

He waves his hand in her face. "Stop!"

She grins at him and turns away, looking back across the table at Larry. "Sorry about that, Larry."

Larry just sighs and sips on his beer. "It's no problem. As jealous as I am of you two, at least I'm not alone on Christmas Eve. Thanks for hanging out with me."

Maya nods. "No problem!" She raises her hand to flag down the waitress. "Another round over here please!"

* * *

It doesn't take as many drinks as Maya expects, but then again Phoenix has always been a lightweight. Even she has a higher alcohol tolerance, so she's fully aware of what she's doing as she drags him up onto the stage. He's still not totally into it, but he's not declining either.

She picks up the two microphones and hands him one, then goes about finding the song she wants. Technically the original song isn't a duet, but she knows for a fact this karaoke machine has a duet version available for use.

The music starts, and she moves to stand beside Phoenix. She's already bopping to the music, unable to help herself. All he's doing is standing beside her, slightly wobbly from the alcohol, but smiling fondly at her as she turns to him. She's not singing this song for the audience reaction. She wants to sing it to him, _with_ him.

She lifts the microphone to her lips and starts to sing, trying to imitate the voice of the legendary Mariah Carey, the only true Christmas icon, as far as Maya is concerned.

 _I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There is just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is yooooou, ooo0o0o0o0ooo_

The music continues on for a few seconds, and she's afraid Phoenix isn't going to play along. That he'll make her sing the whole thing by herself while he stands there awkwardly, as some sort of punishment for dragging him on stage.

Thankfully, when the next verse appears on the karaoke machine, he lifts his own microphone. She's elated when she realizes he isn't even looking at the words on the screen, but instead directly at her. He knows them by heart anyway. It may just be Maya's favourite Christmas song, and it wouldn't be the first time they've sung it together. Though usually those are silly private moments between them, when they're in the middle of decorating the apartment or baking cookies, not in a bar in front of an audience. But having an audience makes it all the more fun.

 _I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There is just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I don't need to hang my stocking  
There upon the fireplace  
Santa Claus won't make me happy  
With a toy on Christmas Day_

She grins at him and joins in for the hook. They've caught the attention of most of the people in the bar by now, but continue to pay attention only to each other.

 _I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is yoooou!_

Maya dances around him, teasingly singing her verses at him. It's fun, singing to each other. Neither of them are amazing singers, but together they don't sound half bad.

When it's over, the patrons of the bar erupt into cheers and applause, surprising both of them as they finally look away from each other and out into the audience. Phoenix wraps an arm around her and she's glad to see that he's smiling. She leans up on her toes to kiss him, which causes another round of cheers and a few whistles.

They head back to their table together where Larry is sitting, grinning. There another round of beers on the table. "You guys were great," he says. "Someone got you these."

They slide into the booth again, side by side. It seems the embarrassment is just hitting Phoenix now, either that or the alcohol is starting to bother him, because he puts his face in his hands. "Did I really just do that?"

Maya giggles and rubs his back. "You were great, Nick, come on. We even got some free drinks out of it!"

Larry nods his agreement and holds up his phone. "And I got the whole thing on camera."

Phoenix shoots him a death glare. "You wouldn't dare."

Larry makes a show of pressing a button on his phone. "Whoooops I think I just accidentally sent that to my entire contact list!"

Phoenix groans, and Maya just laughs as she reaches for another beer.


	3. Single on Christmas

Pairing: Phoenix/Maya  
Prompt: Both single on Christmas  
Word Count: 1,110

* * *

 _Nick, will you come over?_

Phoenix frowned as he checked the message on his phone. Normally a message like this from Maya was a welcome one, but not on Christmas Eve. She wanted him to try to get to Kurain on _Christmas Eve_? Kurain wasn't a mere five minute cab drive, it was two hours away _by train,_ and on one of the busiest days of the year? There was no way.

 _I miss you and I hate being alone on Christmas. :(_

On the other hand, spending Christmas with Maya and Pearl did sound pretty good, and Trucy would probably be happy too. It was really short notice and he wished Maya had invited them sooner, especially since he knew the trains would be packed with people travelling to other cities for Christmas, but he was pretty sure he could make it to the station to catch the next train if he packed up his and Trucy's things right away.

He snapped his laptop shut and got up to call to Trucy. She'd better start packing right away if they wanted to make it to Kurain before it got too late.

* * *

It was already dark out by the time they got to Kurain Village, but Maya was waiting outside Fey Manor with an excited Pearl, and as soon as they entered the house, she started talking about all the plans she had for the night. He knew they probably wouldn't get around to most of it, especially with Pearl and Trucy both yawning already and eager to get to bed so Santa could come, but he humoured her.

It was clear that Maya really had been lonely if the way she clung to him all night was any indication. They baked cookies to leave out for Santa, helped finish up some decorating that Maya hadn't been able to get to amidst her busy channeling schedule, and when Pearl and Trucy finally did go to bed, he and Maya sat together in the sitting room wrapping presents that had yet to be wrapped and filling stockings for the girls.

By the time they were finished and everything was placed neatly under the tree, it was after midnight.

He watched Maya stand up from placing the last gift under the tree and go to the radio in the room. She turned the knob and turned the volume up just a little bit on a Christmas station before moving to the couch to sit down beside him. She grabbed a cookie off the plate on the table to munch on, so Trucy and Pearl would believe that Santa came.

She smiled at him as she chewed, and he couldn't help smiling back at her. "What?"

She shrugged and wiped her mouth of any crumbs. "I'm just happy you came. I didn't think you would since it was such short notice."

"Why _did_ you wait so long to invite us down?"

Maya sighed. "I dunno. I wasn't planning on inviting you to be honest, but I was watching an old Christmas movie with Pearl when she made a comment about how I must be sad that my special someone wasn't with me on Christmas." She shook her head. "Two of the characters in the movie had gotten together so of course she had to make a comment. But I guess I realized I _was_ kind of sad you weren't here."

He tilted his head at her, noticing how she had turned away from him to avoid his gaze. "Don't you ever get… lonely, Nick?"

"I have Trucy, so not really."

Maya turned to look at him. "I don't mean lonely as in being alone I mean… not having _someone_ … you know?"

"Umm?"

She sighed. "When I go out, I see all these happy couples, holding hands, going skating, buying gifts for each other. I guess I'm just a little jealous, especially around this time of the year." She shifted on the couch, pulling her legs up to face him better. "You never feel like that?"

He thought about it. "No, because I have you. I know we aren't dating or anything but…" he shrugged. "I can do all that stuff with you anyway."

She smiled, moving in closer to his side and snuggling up to him when he wrapped his arm around her. She laid her hand against his chest to play with one of the buttons on his shirt. "I guess that's true. But there _are_ things we can't do."

He let his hand slide up and down her arm. "Like what?"

She lifted her head to smile mischievously at him. "Kiss, for one. Mistletoe is a pretty big Christmas tradition, you know."

"If we happened to be standing under mistletoe, I'd kiss you."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Maybe. On the cheek."

She smacked him lightly. "Nick."

He chuckled. The soft Christmas music continued to play in the background of their conversation. What was it about Christmastime that made the atmosphere seem so romantic? On any normal night, he wouldn't have even _thought_ about doing what he was about to do, but the music in the background and Maya's warm presence beside him and the lights from the tree across the room spurred him into action without even thinking much about it.

"Maya, look at me."

She lifted her face again, looking at him inquisitively. "Hm?"

He leaned forward just enough to press his lips against hers chastely. Maya didn't even seem surprised. She melted into him, her fingers splaying against his chest as she reciprocated the kiss.

When he pulled back, she looked up at him through her eyelashes while trying to hide her smile.

He squeezed her against him. "No mistletoe necessary."

She laid her head back down on his shoulder. "So… was that my Christmas present or what? Because, no offense, it was good, but I was kind of hoping for that Steel Samurai figure I asked you for."

He laughed. "There may be a little something extra under the tree for you."

She grinned. "Yes! Can I open it?"

"No, it's not Christmas yet."

Maya smiled slyly. "Oh, but it's after midnight so it technically is."

He rolled his eyes. "Wow, you got me on a technicality. Fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt."

Maya grinned and sat up excitedly, but before bounding to the tree to look for her gift, she turned back to him and bent to place another soft kiss to his lips. He wasn't sure what that meant about their relationship, but he did know he could really get used to kissing her.

"Merry Christmas, Nick."

"Merry Christmas, Maya."


	4. Holiday Vacation

Pairing: Phoenix/Maya  
Prompt: Holiday vacation together  
Word Count: 2,553

This is very loosely based on my first and only time skiing. -_- It wasn't fun. I also wanted to make Phoenix good at something for once. He's always so reluctant, I wanted Maya to be the one not wanting to do something, lol.

* * *

"Nick, when you promised we'd go on vacation, this isn't really what I had in mind."

Phoenix looks down at her, that 'I don't know what you're talking about' look settled on his face. Maya knows that look, because she's the one who perfected it. "What were you expecting?"

She wraps her arms around herself as she trudges through the snow. Phoenix is struggling to carry both of their suitcases as he walks beside her. "It's the middle of winter. I was thinking if we were going to go on a vacation over the holidays, we'd maybe be going someplace _warm_? Not somewhere even colder, with even _more_ snow than we have in Kurain?"

Phoenix stares straight ahead. "We're almost there, and trust me Maya, it's really beautiful. I'm sorry the car couldn't make it all the way up here, but it'll be worth it, please just trust me?"

She frowns. "Fine."

They continue on for a short while, and Maya is staring down at the white snow to watch her steps when she hears Phoenix. "Maya, look."

She looks up, and through the flurries sees the cabin they've trekked all this way to get to. Her eyes widen. "Whoa, Nick."

He grins at her. "I told you it was worth it. This isn't some rustic cabin up on a mountain, Maya. Just wait until you see the inside."

She picks up the pace, now more excited to get there. When they finally reach the large front steps, Phoenix sets their suitcases down and pulls off the gloves he's wearing to more easily get the keys. Maya looks around, noticing how the snow has been cleaned off from the steps and away from the door.

"Does someone come take care of this place?"

Phoenix nods as he slides his key into the lock. "Yeah. A cleaning service for inside and snow removal outside, but they can't do the whole road."

"What are we going to do about the car?"

"It should be safe. It's remote enough out here, it's locked, and we didn't leave anything of value in it."

"If you say so."

He pushes open the door and starts dragging their things inside. Maya walks in behind him, stomping the snow from her boots.

"Wow, Nick," she breathes. "What did you say your parents do again?"

He smiles and starts to take off the layers and layers of winter clothing he has on. Maya follows suit.

"My mom is a doctor, and my dad is an accountant. They got this place when I was a teenager."

Maya looks around the cabin. It's beautiful, like the sort of cabin you'd see in an interior design magazine. The best part of it are the large windows, and the view outside. Snow and the mountains. It takes her breath away.

"Your parents are pretty well off then?" she asks.

He nods and steps into the living area, pulling their suitcases behind them. "Yep."

"So then… why are you so poor, Nick?"

"Maya."

"Sorry. I just mean… you complain about money all the time. They never help you out?"

"They paid my way through university and once I graduated and got a job, they basically cut me off. My dad was never the type to give handouts and I was never a spoiled kid, so once I became an adult it became my responsibility to pay my way through life. I guess they also figured a lawyer would be making more money." He shrugs. "It doesn't matter to me. I'm happy as long as I have you, Trucy, and Pearls."

She smiles. "And they are letting you use the cabin, at least."

"Well, as soon as I told them I wanted to bring my girlfriend here, they were all over the idea."

Maya giggles and sits down on the couch to watch Phoenix start a fire in the fireplace. "Why's that?"

He shrugs. "This is going to sound bad, and trust me, they do love Trucy, but… I think they want a biological grandchild. I don't know why, it's such an old fashioned thing to want when they already _have_ a grandchild, but yeah."

"Ooh, I see. So they gave you permission to woo me with a nice romantic vacation in the mountains in the hopes that you'll get me pregnant. Is there a bear skin rug somewhere we can have sex on?"

"Afraid not."

She snickers. "Ah, well. I guess a bed will have to do."

He gets up once the fire begins to pick up on its own and settles onto the couch beside her. He wraps an arm around her shoulders. "The bed? Why the bed when there's a perfectly good couch right here, with a very nice view. It's even more beautiful at night, by the way. There's also a hot tub out back."

"Ooh. Well, maybe we can try everything."

"I like the way you think, Maya."

She laughs, and they get quiet. She's enjoying the crackling of the fire and how it's beginning to warm the room, until Phoenix clears his throat.

"On another note… Have you ever tried skiing?"

She furrows her eyebrows. "No. I'm not sure I want to, either. Strapping sticks to your feet and flying down a mountain? Seems a good way to die."

"I'm kind of surprised you don't want to try it. You always talk me into doing stuff I don't want to do."

She groans, but she knows she can't refuse when he uses that excuse. It is true, she makes him do a lot of things he doesn't want to do, so it's only fair she gives something she doesn't want to do a try for once. Besides, plenty of people do it, so it can't be that bad or dangerous.

Phoenix squeezes her comfortingly. "I'll teach you."

"Fine. I'll try it once."

* * *

Phoenix wakes her early the next morning, another change from the usual. She's the early bird in their relationship, and half the time she has to drag him out of bed. The bed in the master bedroom here is so plush and soft, with satin sheets, and the blankets on top as warm as anything. It's possibly the most comfortable bed she's ever slept in, and Phoenix is waking her up early to drag her out of it and up a mountain, only to slide back down it.

Still, she promised him she would, so she gets up and gets ready for the day. By the time she's ready to go, she probably weighs twice as much under the weight of all of her winter clothing. Boots, snow pants, a heavy jacket, gloves and then mittens _on top_ of the gloves, a scarf to cover her lower face, and a thick hat pulled down over her hair.

Phoenix looks much the same, minus the extra pair of mittens and the scarf. He seems to be revelling in the cold, which Maya finds strange. She's used to the cold, living close to the mountains herself in Kurain, and he's not, yet out here he seems to really be enjoying it.

He takes her around to the back of the cabin and uncovers a snowmobile, just like the one she'd seen at Hazakura Temple a few years ago. Back then she'd never gotten to ride it, but seeing this one here now gives her a little boost of excitement. Even if skiing ends up terrible, at least she has the snowmobile ride to and from the ski lodge to look forward to.

She forces Phoenix into giving her a lesson on how to drive the snowmobile before they head to the ski lodge, and then forces him to let her drive there despite not knowing the way. Somehow he manages to guide her by pointing, and eventually they make it to the lodge. They head inside together to get geared up, but the more Maya glances outside to where she can see the lifts heading up the mountain with skiers from neighbouring cabins on them, their legs dangling high in the air, the more nervous she gets.

It doesn't help that when she finally gets strapped into some ski boots and attempts to step into the skis, she can't do it. The boots are so heavy, and she can't seem to situate them properly to snap down onto the skis until Phoenix comes over and lets her hold onto him for support. Once they're finally on, she's handed two little sticks with spikes, and sent on out into the snow.

She looks around, jealous of how easy Phoenix and everyone else is making this look. He manages to slide around on his skis with ease, but she can barely stand in hers.

"Niiick," she whines. "Help me."

He grins at her, cheeks red from the cold. "Okay. See that little hill over there?" He points, and Maya can see a much smaller hill with a pulley system as opposed to an actual chairlift. It appears to have little handles sticking out of it.

"You're going to go grab onto one of those, and let it pull you up that tiny hill. I'll be right behind you, so I can show you how to go down, okay?"

She nods, and waddles over to the lift. She gets her skis straight and grabs on to one of the moving handles. It starts to pull her up, and she looks behind her to make sure Phoenix is there. He is, just as he said, holding on with one hand and leaning back casually as the lift pulls him. She frowns again at how simple it seems for him, when she's there with knees bent, trying not to fall down and get run over by anyone else going up the hill.

When they make it to the top, Phoenix has to convince her to let go of the lift, and gives her a little push to help her situate at the top of the hill.

She listens intently as he tries to explain to her what to do. For something seemingly so simple, sliding down a hill, it sounds pretty complicated. When she thinks she gets it, he goes down first so she can watch. Once at the bottom of the hill, he waves to her.

She takes a deep breath and pushes herself closer to the incline. With one more push of her poles, she begins to slide down the mountain.

She realizes halfway down that she can't remember how to stop. Luckily the slope isn't that steep, and she managed to simply slow down. Phoenix slides over to her and wraps her in a hug.

"That was good for your first time, Maya, except you didn't stop properly."

"I know, I forgot. Show me how to do it again, and I'll keep trying. I want to get good so you can go up the mountain to the better slopes and not stay down here on the kiddy one waiting for me."

"Take your time. I don't want you getting hurt."

She nods, and he shows her how to stop again. This time she goes up the mountain alone, and tries again.

* * *

By the time she's gone down the same small hill for what seems the twentieth time, Maya feels like she may actually be getting the hang of this. She heads to the top once more and prepares to head down.

Halfway down the hill, she hits a bump in the snow, and starts to lose control. It's frightening despite knowing that even if she fell here, she's not likely to hurt herself. At the end of the slope, she's still struggling to catch her balance in order to stop, and ends up sprawled in the snow instead. She moves to sit up, expecting strong hands to help her and a low voice to soothe her, but it doesn't come. When she wipes the snow from her face and looks around, she spots Phoenix standing to the side, talking to someone.

She feels like a childish baby for it, but she can't help tearing up. She's embarrassed at having fallen down after trying to hard for so long, and then her boyfriend isn't even there to comfort her. He's getting bored of watching her and probably wants to get to the more difficult slopes, but it still upsets her. He's usually so patient and understanding, so she's not used to him outright ignoring her.

She somehow manages to get back to her feet on her own and starts to slide over to where Phoenix is standing with the other man, but she has no intention of stopping to talk to him. She's going inside.

He turns when he hears her coming. "Hey, Maya! This is my friend Joe from when I was a kid—"

She ignores him, sliding right past and into the lodge.

By the time Phoenix finds her, she's at the bar with a hot chocolate… filled with a little Irish cream. He takes a seat on the bar stool beside her.

"Maya… Is something wrong? You were doing so well out there."

"How would you know? You weren't paying me any attention."

"I'm sorry… I just haven't seen Joe for years, since I was a teenager. I was only catching up and you were doing so well I didn't think I needed to keep a close eye on you anymore."

She pouts. She feels selfish and needy, but she can't help it. "I fell down, Nick, and you didn't even know."

He looks surprised. "When did you fall?"

"Right before I came inside. You weren't there to help me up."

He wraps an arm around her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Maya. I didn't realize. I should've been making sure you were okay."

"It's okay…" She sighs. "I guess I couldn't expect you to watch me constantly, especially if you were just catching up with an old friend. But I don't think skiing is my thing. I wouldn't mind if you came back out here by yourself to ski with your friend, but I don't want to. I can spend my day in the warm cabin until you get back."

He places a kiss on the top of her head. "Let's _both_ go back to the cabin for today. You're wet and probably cold. I'll make the fire again and cook us something good and we can just spend the night wrapped up in a blanket by the fire."

She smiles. "That sounds nice. But really, tomorrow you have to come back out here to ski. I know you want to, and it's your vacation too, and we're here for a week so there's plenty of time to spend together. I can stay there for the day and cook dinner before you get back. Then maybe we can make use of that hot tub. I'm sure you'll need it after being out skiing all day."

He grins at her. "Sounds perfect, Maya. So I'm forgiven?"

She leans over to kiss him. "Yes, you're forgiven."

"Do you want to go?"

She taps her drink. "Let me just finish this first. It cost ten dollars, but I didn't think you would mind."

He sighs. "Of course not. I guess you deserve it after the day you've had."

She nods. "You're right about that."


End file.
